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Derby champ Cespedes scratched with sore left wrist

Derby champ Cespedes scratched with sore left wrist

7/15/13: Yoenis Cespedes combines for 23 homers in the first two rounds and clubs nine more in the Finals to win the 2013 Home Run Derby

By Lyle Spencer
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MLB.com |

OAKLAND -- Yoenis Cespedes, winner of the Chevrolet Home Run Derby on Monday night in New York, was a late scratch from the A's lineup on Friday night at Angel Stadium with soreness in his left wrist. He was on the disabled list last season with a muscle strain in his left hand.

A's manager Bob Melvin said Cespedes was day to day after Oakland's 4-1 loss. "I wouldn't think so," Melvin said when asked if the wrist ailment was connected to the Derby. "You would think he'd have felt it then, and he didn't. It came up today in batting practice. Before the game he was taking swings in the cage and still felt it."

Replacing Cespedes in left field, Chris Young made an excellent running catch of an Albert Pujols drive toward the foul line with two on and none out in the first inning.

Cespedes, a Cuban defector who finished second to the Angels' Mike Trout in the 2012 American League Rookie of the Year balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, is hitting .225 with 15 homers and 43 RBIs. He is in the midst of a 19-game homerless drought. He had 23 homers and 82 RBIs last season, hitting .292.

While playing 129 games last season, Cespedes, 27, struggled with various ailments. Along with the injury to his left hand, he had a strained left hamstring that took him to the disabled list.

Cespedes launched 17 homers in the first round of the Home Run Derby at Citi Field, followed by six in the second round and nine in the finals. He defeated the Nationals' Bryce Harper in that final round to join Mark McGwire (1992) as A's who have won the Home Run Derby.

"I've seen it," Melvin said before the game of Cespedes' power display. "This is the first time the baseball world has seen it. It's exciting for all of us. I think it even pumped him up. He's a remarkably talented guy and definitely showed it off that night. I think it was good for him to be there."

Lyle Spencer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.